What is inspiration, REALLY?
If we are going to talk about inspiration, let's define it first
According to The Oxford English dictionary, inspiration is:
in·spi·ra·tion
/ˌinspəˈrāSH(ə)n/
noun
the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
Well… that’s useless. Starting with something as uninspired as a dictionary definition means that this article can only get more inspired as we go, right?
Obviously, that’s not enough. If that was all, then this article would be over and I could shut down this website and you could all head home knowing that you already know everything there is to know about inspiration… but I have more words to share on this topic!
What is the science behind inspiration?
When all else fails, I like to do what humans do whenever something is in front of them that they cannot explain; Ask SCIENCE to explain it for me.
Let’s take a look at what happens to us when we feel inspired. Regardless of where inspiration shows up in your life, you have probably felt inspired at some point (for some people it may be less of a rush and more of a trickle, but that is perfectly ok, too). For me, personally, I get a feeling of excitement. When I feel truly inspired I feel like I cannot create fast enough… I feel this visceral drive to paint, or draw, or type… Inspiration has pushed me to work on despite being exhausted. Inspiration has driven me to push my own skills or abilities to create something different from what I believed I was capable of. Inspiration helped me be a better and more effective creative.
Inspiration can cause problems, too. Inspiration has caused insomnia and prevented me from sleeping. Inspiration has taken away my ability to focus on anything that is not related to that inspiration. Inspiration that exceeds what I am capable of has left me feeling like I failed because what I created was less than what I saw in my inspiration fueled imagination.
How is it possible that inspiration can be a motivator, but also a distraction like that? The simple answer is the biology of inspiration. When we feel inspired our brains generate extra “feel good” hormones and neurotransmitters, specifically oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine. Most people have heard of each of these, but let’s take a quick look at the effect these have on us.
Oxytocin - This hormone comes from the hypothalamus and is released into the bloodstream by the pituitary gland. Oxytocin causes us to feel secure and trusting.
Serotonin - Serotonin is mostly produced in your gut. When you have the right amount of serotonin in you, you feel calm, focused and happy.
Dopamine - Dopamine comes from our brains. Dopamine makes us feel motivation and pleasure.
So inspiration releases a bunch of stuff into ourselves that make us feel secure, productive, and happy. Additionally, studies say that people tend to live longer, happier lives when they regularly experience these feelings, I am even more excited to explore inspiration! It is literally life-giving!!
The perfect combo
So, with oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine, we feel secure, happy, and motivated and we call this feeling “inspired.” However, I am thinking that it takes all three to truly feel “inspired.”
Security + Happiness + Motivation = Inspiration
Boom! That’s math (kind of). What if we pull one of the three out? Let’s consider what it would feel like to have only two of the three coursing through your system:
Security + Happiness = Love This is a great way to feel, and a great place to relax and know that everything will be ok. Without adding motivation to the mix, will we push ourselves to create?
Happiness + Motivation = Productivity Content and ready to get things done! This is a great place to go grocery shopping and get things done. Without security it is unlikely we will challenge ourselves or try doing something new.
Security + Motivation = “Git-er-done” Time to grind and get things done! This is a productive mindset and probably ok for doing yard work or maybe dominating a spreadsheet. Without happiness, can we enjoy what we do?
If we pull one piece of the “inspiration trio” we are still in a good place, but it takes all three, security, happiness and motivation to really say we are inspired!
Can I “hack” inspiration?
Given what we know about the hormones and neurotransmitters that are connected to feeling inspired, can we assume that when we feel those good feelings, we are feeling inspired? Is just feeling good in general the same as feeling inspired? Probably not. However, are you more likely to feel inspired if you already have some “feel goods” running through your system… Maybe?
I am no doctor of hormoneology, but I can say that I have felt inspiration hit much harder when things are going well. If I am in a good mood and not focused on troubles, I can stumble across or intentionally seek out inspiration much easier than I can when I am irritated or feeling down in the dumps. At the same time, I have been intentional an forced myself into creative endeavors when I was feeling down, knowing that I might be able to get a “bump” of creative juices that would leave me feeling better.
…did I just liken inspiration to a drug? Yes. Yes I did.
The fact is, I know that feeling inspired is an amazing and positive feeling and I look for opportunities to feel that way. I will search clouds or the knick-down texture on the walls for faces or shapes of animals. I will imagine what certain colors would look like next to each other and how they would blend together at the edges. I make lists of different topics that I think I would like to write about. I am intentional about pursuing these avenues because I know I can tease creativity out of them and I will feel good. I will feel good about myself, within myself, and about my creative efforts.
Real life time…
About a year ago, at the end of the pandemic, I was feeling very down. I was bathing and brushing my teeth, working at home full time, providing for my family, but that was about it. I had a void inside myself (as most of us did after living through sheltering in place of years). One of the things that I did to feel better was to start painting again. To be honest, I did not really want to, but I knew I needed to do something. I had worked through multiple inspirational flare-ups during COVID, but was at an all time low, creatively speaking. I knew that I had a need inside myself to create, but did not feel driven to actually make an effort. I forced myself to try to paint something that I had never seen before. I challenged myself to paint something that did not exist. I dared myself to try to create a painting that people could look at and interpret, rather than try to reproduce what I saw on the canvas.
It was rough at first, and the paintings I create are far from my best work, but I started feeling better almost right away. And here’s the cool part. Not only did I feel good about what I had created, but I felt inspired to create more! SO I did. I painted a dozen or so paintings over the next few months. Each time I did it, I felt even better about what I was doing and felt motivated to do more of it.
Time to wrap this thing up
Through this process I was able to really figure out what inspiration meant to me. Inspiration is that drive to create, but it is more. It pushes creativity, but also creates it. It is fuel in a creative cycle that forces me to push myself and grow. It is the thing that moves the creative process forward. Without inspiration, can creativity even exist?
That’s my take on inspiration, but I would love to hear your thoughts! Let me know how you define inspiration in the comments!
Great post! It's funny how isolation like the pandemic can be so draining. I am an "extreme introvert" and enjoy being alone. I work for myself so it's the perfect job for an introvert. But without outside inputs, I seem to drain down even though I'm in my most comfortable place, alone in my shop. Yet, another example of how perpetual motion can't be a thing. Perpetual inspiration can't be a thing. We need inputs.
Such a great post, Aaron, though I'm confused.
Science? Maths? What an unexpected path through your analysis, dare I say I was inspired?
I tend to filter things through my "what does this mean for ADHD" filter, which is big ol' "I don't make dopamine right" condition. It has me thinking about inspiration >> creative pursuit as it ties to getting stuff done as an ADHD brain.
Thanks for the post, Aaron, I like things that get my brain rolling in the morning. My only disappointment was the absense of a Venn diagram to go with your new formula.